Petra Part I - Jordan

The town of Petra houses one of the 7 wonders of the world, though this list is still hotly debated!  Regardless, it is a protected UNESCO world heritage site and it is treated with respect by its caretakers.

I could have picked a more recognizable cover shot, but Donkeys, Mules and Camels are an integral part of life for Bedouin people living in and around Petra 

Fear not, the classic eye-candy is coming up 

Petra brings Jordan a ton of tourist revenue with daily visits numbering over 10,000 in high season.  Numbers like that might turn you off, but the ancient Nabatean city of  Raqmu is so physically big that it absorbs those visitors quite handily - or so we're told... when we were there the country was shutting down and there was torrential rain on 2 out of the 3 days we visited - apocalyptic indeed.

A cold, windy and rainy first day in Petra - here's our Bedouin host's hostel/BNB in the town of Uum Sayhoun

Our first morning in Petra was tenuous - there were 80km/h gusting winds kicking up a major sand storm.  The sky threatened a rare rain dump and, well, we didn't care - we donned our rain shells, hats and gloves and hired a local kid to take our kids into Petra by Donkey.

Bumpy and fun - just before the rain

Unfortunately, we were denied entry at the Uum Sayhoun gate due to the inclement weather!  Never to be deterred, we ventured down into Petra town proper to the main gate to see if the tail was wagging the dog... and, ultimately, it was!  After hanging around in the reception center, which is packed with great depictions, artifacts and historical accounts, we were allowed on site - and boy was it spectacular!

Pictures like this are normally filled with 30 other tourists - we had the place to ourselves - it was both wonderful and eerie

As we began to reap the photographic and aesthetic advantages of Petra being deserted, we also began to worry for the well being of the local community as its main industry - tourism - was effectively being turned off overnight by inclement weather and COVID.

Nathan posing in front of an ancient sandstone cave dwelling

Petra reveals its secrets in stages - the road in - a riverbed - winds into a valley and the density of cave dwellings and carved sandstone structures slowly increases as the road narrows to a canyon.

The riverbed (called a wadi) narrowing and the canyon deepening

The rock colours are a dazzling array of yellows, oranges, reds and grays.  The place oozes history out of every pore.  As you walk the canyon floor, you ask yourself at every river bend if the structures you see are man-made or natural.  You see, the Nabatean people that first constructed Petra carved amazing aqueducts into the canyon walls all the way into town - and that's far - several km.

Making our way into town - see the ledge inset on the canyon wall on the left side of the riverbed? That's an aqueduct! 

So alone, it was strikingly quiet

Other evidence of human ingenuity reveals itself all along the path - from crude cave dwellings to carved staircases to Petroglyphs (the prefix Petro meaning rock) and more.  The government institution that runs this attraction has done a decent job of placing commemorative and historical plaques along the riverbed to highlight points of interest, along with the odd garbage can.  There is no visible garbage in the ancient town of Petra - a nice treat.

Note the more pronounced aqueducts on both sides of the riverbed... but wait... is it still a riverbed?  Actually, this is a road built by the Romans who conquered this area and held the Nabateans and their magnificent sandstone city in high regard

Strolling along the canyon...

And then, out of nowhere, the ancient Treasury appears...

A captivating sight - the Raqmu treasury building

From here on, the city unfolds in dazzling detail with a much higher density of "cool stuff".  The treasury attracts the largest tourist gathering... but we were in a crowd of 30, not 500.

Silent, beautiful Petra

This impressive building gets lit up at night for "Petra-at-night" - organizers light candles the entire length of the canyon walk and right into the plaza in front of the Treasury... and it's truly enchanting... which was our plan... but alas, it gets cancelled in wind and/or rain.

Up close!

You can't go into the building... actually, you can't see it from this vantage point, but the small retaining wall at the base of the building actually hides 2 more entrances that have been slowly buried in sand on the riverbed... so access really isn't safe anyway.

Cool caves and staircases - the riverbed to the left continues into the rest of town - note the sandstorm brewing!

There are Donkeys and Camels all over the place toting people and things up and down the riverbed.

Animals earning their keep

You can jump right into most places here without the hindrance of signs, guardrails or other over-protective nuisances - the stairs are weathered and sloped... and ancient... like literally 2000 years old... use at your own risk! 

The canyon colours are mesmerizing

Ancient offerings - not made in China

Every corner you turn reveals a new set of buildings or cave dwellings - these vary in age, depending on who built them... one the Romans took over, they added their own style to the area.

Red, red sandstone, magnificently carved

An ancient image

Prime real-estate

Pick a cave - any cave

Moving further down-wadi

A Roman-inspired amphitheater

So, at right about this moment, the sky opened up and a downpour began... the thing about cities built in ancient riverbeds is that... well... their built in RIVERBEDS.  Flash-flooding is a rare but serious concern, so we were evacuated back out to Uum Sayhoun in the bed of a pickup truck - no choice in the matter.

No seats, let alone seat belts... mom was not impressed!  I'd love to tell you the driver was careful and slow... but that'd be a flat-out lie - he drove on hairpin turns and switchbacks at 60-70km/h in the driving rain, often on the wrong side of the road. 

Look ma - I'm all in one piece!

After the total soaker we got, we decided to head into new Petra town to grab dinner at the Al Wadi restaurant... superb, HOT food... but like everything else in Petra, it was mostly empty due to COVID.

Eerily empty restaurant

You won't find this at North-American restos...

NOT Shrak - this is more like Naan - made in a tandoor oven 

Practical, if not beautiful - this sits outside the restaurant, filling the street with the smell of fresh-baked bread

But... we were still chilled... so we made haste and hit the Turkish Baths in Petra.  If you're not familiar with these, allow me to explain.  In a Turkish Bath, you steam yourself into oblivion for 10-30 min... then you get scrubbed down - literally.

A bath assistant gets a pumice mitten and literally removes the top layer of your skin - all of your skin.  The baths are split - men and women separate.  Nathan, Parker and I got worked over for about 20 min each.  After you get scrubbed, you get suds... then a massage - it's quite an ordeal.

Post-bath bliss

Checkout our towels! 

When it's all over, you're so relaxed you're melting - not to mention HOT, which was our goal.   This was our first of 2 days in Petra... stay tuned for the next post about the Monastery and Petra's merchant road!